


And it was another kind of game over

by hyacinth_lea



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Basketball, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Sports, First Crush, High School Crush, I would say it's that, Light-Hearted, M/M, Slice of Life, basketball captain! Hongbin, is it?, just lighthearted nbin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 09:16:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20889731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyacinth_lea/pseuds/hyacinth_lea
Summary: It should be far more simple, after all it’s just classmates, teammates and quite the number of squealing girls that flail at his every movement while his name falls from their lips in an excited tone that he swears they should save when they meet an actual idol. But at times it’s really not, especially when he’s got a score to change.And Hongbin should be calmer, but the score is not the only thing that is currently making him lose the focus he normally is holder of.





	And it was another kind of game over

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, this is a very entirely self indulgent piece because there was a time in which I kept having pics of Hongbin (and Hakyeon) with their basketball attires and I couldn't help but create something that was basketball related.
> 
> Please keep in mind that I'm not well versed in sports lol ;; and that it's mostly based on feelings but yeah. 
> 
> I still hope you enjoy!
> 
> -part of my October challenge [maybe]

The cheers from the crowd render him unable to hear anything else other than the ringing in his ears and the mad beating of his heart, rush of adrenaline that comes from drowning in the euphoria that emanates from the displays of support towards him. His ears filter exactly what they want to hear, what they know will give him the boost he needs--the callings of his name, a total demonstration that all eyes are on him, undivided attention at his feet. As the captain of the basketball team, this is something he should expect and be accustomed to, the deafening echo from the audience that makes him feel alive, the expectant gazes that follow his every move, and while energizing at times it’s suffocating. It was bound to happen, simply put--yet to Hongbin, the rush juggles between exhilaration and an asphyxiating need to perform to his very best.

It should be far more simple, after all it’s just classmates, teammates and quite the number of squealing girls that flail at his every movement while his name falls from their lips in an excited tone that he swears they should save when they meet an actual idol. But at times it’s really not, especially when he’s got a score to change.

“Think fast!” his ears manage to filter, ball hastily being passed to him with aims of it turning into the changing point so that the results favour his team again. Hongbin _ should _be calmer, but the score is not the only thing that is currently making him lose the focus he normally is holder of. It’s the sight that had greeted him the moment he set foot on his college’s coliseum earlier on, one that he had brushed aside blaming it on his mind playing tricks on him. It was a sight he hadn’t expected to see again, after all--yet he felt so done for the moment he felt his gaze landing on that precise spot at the crowd. 

Spotting him in the crowd proved to be anything but difficult, it was without any sort of complications other than the somersault his heart had been protagonist of. After all, Hongbin still remembers that the bright of this view was unlike anything else. A kind of shine that only stars could hold and Hongbin’s mind makes a point to remind him that his fifteen year old self would even go as far as to call him his own star-- one that was an automatic game over to anyone who laid eyes upon him, or so the fast-paced musings of his younger self used to tell him.

It could have been called cliché, it essentially being something the majority of people at his school had gone through at some point or another--that being crushing on Cha Hakyeon, student council president back at Hongbin’s high school. And now the same object of Hongbin’s high school _ ‘ephemeral’ _ infatuation, is currently standing there--in the middle of the public, with his eyes set on him and watching every minute of his match. It would be far fetched to assume that he is there for Hongbin though, the possibility of Hakyeon coming to this match because of somebody else entirely is there. Yet, there is no way for Hongbin to be certain of that and his mind makes it a point to remind him something: there is _ no _way he remembers his face after all the years that have passed.

However, Hongbin does albeit the years. Truthfully, there is no way that he could have forgotten the face of the person who unknowingly stole many hearts with only one single glance--his own heart included. And Hongbin thinks, that perhaps he hasn’t got it back even if time has done its job and six years have passed quite rapidly.

It’s a colossal feat for Hongbin to even attempt to keep his head in the game, though he does his best. He keeps repeating to himself to not let his eyes trail off to where Hakyeon is standing at, however, his mind won’t listen and chooses nothing but to unveil his image right in front of his eyes--as if Hakyeon was right in his line of sight, with that dazzling smile of his like a light in his path. He can’t help but remember his get up--Hakyeon dresses casual, a fitting black denim jacket, a pure white shirt that fits his frame perfectly and a pair of dashing blue jeans. It’s something that makes Hongbin inevitably shake his head just as someone manages to steal the ball from him--it honestly isn’t the time to let his thoughts concentrate on his little high school crush, even if Hakyeon is just some meters away.

Chances to do something about it weren’t many during that time for his interactions with his senior were mostly limited and exclusively related to matters regarding the basketball team--meetings that wouldn’t take too long because they were done just to supervise the state of things and for Hongbin, this translated in the inability to act upon it, and it’s not like he would have even if having had the chance.

Hongbin is entirely certain that there is no plausible way for him to have shown signs of feelings developing during that year that Hakyeon was council president, but that’s the past--and with the way in which his moves lack the fluidity he is known for, there is a voice at the back of his mind that wonders if his cool basketball captain facade is shattering at the moment. It all comes from noticing Hakyeon’s presence, how his composure seems visibly affected, how he feels his heart rate picking up and although silly--Hongbin wonders if the increase in speed can be heard by anyone else other than him.

It takes him a while to control the erratic pace that his heart chose to take today, but Hongbin manages to calm himself down just enough in order to get to score a basket after some minutes, memories of his teenage years effectively pushed back alongside fresh drops that hint a revival of something sweet and tender coursing through his vein. It’s a throwback, as if he was fifteen once again.

It’s the choice of lady luck when she wants to be on his side as the match ends in a win for him, his teammates approach him, all thank him for his hard work. Hongbin can only smile at them and thank the team for their efforts also and he walks away, casually bouncing the ball as he does in an attempt to reach the coliseum’s exit. His eyes choose to focus on the floor, evident attempt to not gaze at the crowd that is starting to disperse. Yet, there is a moment in which the ball disappears from his sight and almost instantaneously, a firm grasp on his forearm stops him on his tracks.

“It’s been so long, Lee Hongbin-ssi”

It’s familiar albeit it being a voice which has been years since he last was able to hear it, a silky tune that makes his mind shut because it has only even far more enthralling with the years that have passed, and Hongbin prays he doesn’t look as affected as he is. He lifts his gaze and it locks itself with Hakyeon’s instantly, he has that same aura about him, that of brilliant calm that is capable of drawing anyone in. Hakyeon flashes a smile at Hongbin, holding the ball he stole from him in a swift move and Hongbin’s only option is to feign surprise at this meeting, a defense mechanism through and through, “Ah! Hakyeon-sunbae” he greets, a small bow as greeting, and he hopes that it doesn’t appear as something strange that he still remembers Hakyeon’s name.

The reply to his greeting is a nod of acknowledgement, and Hongbin is grateful that at least it wasn’t weird of him to know his senior’s name. Hakyeon casually starts bouncing the ball on his spot, leisurely, with no indicator that he may want to give it back and Hongbin can’t find it in himself to say anything about it. Hakyeon stops after a while, soft smile playing in his lips, “Who would have thought that you would be our college’s basketball captain, huh?”

To say that Hongbin is anything short of perplexed would be an understatement, hearing ‘_our college_’ coming from Hakyeon’s lips sounds nothing but off. It makes bewilderment take over him for he doesn’t remember seeing Hakyeon before in the three years he has been studying in this place, “Our college?” he can’t avoid asking.

Hakyeon’s expression lits up and his lips form an almost silent _ ‘Ah’ _, he seems to be pondering about the reply to give and tilts his head when seemingly having found the precise one, “I’m going to be helping out with dance classes around here,” Hakyeon states, and Hongbin’s eyes widen at the piece of information he has been given. He is puzzled, extremely so but it becomes far more bemusing when Hakyeon gives him back his ball, fingers brushing lightly against him in such simple an action, and Hakyeon says, “It’s good to see a known face here”

Hongbin’s eyes widen in surprise at the news, the weight of this data is enormous because it means that he will be seeing Hakyeon more often and yet, he tries to keep his composure as he speaks, “That’s awesome to hear sunbae”

“Just call me hyung, it’s fine”

“That’s good to hear then, hyung” referring to Hakyeon with that name isn’t as complicated as Hongbin would have thought it to be, somehow easing into the term without any sort of issue. It somehow just feels right and it causes a distant thought to surface inside his mind, one that tells that he may have craved this closeness when younger and that’s why he just finds it too easy to interact this way with the older. He tries to keep the conversation going, and remembers what Hakyeon told him he was going to do in this college, “You dance?” he asks.

It’s not like hearing that equals improbable for Hongbin remembers pretty clearly Hakyeon’s presentations at high school, but it’s still pleasantly surprising to know that he pursued something that went so well with him, “I do many things” Hakyeon says, grin adorning his face as he does, “You seem to do your thing pretty well though” and there’s a hint of his words trailing off somehow that Hongbin manages to catch.

Hongbin just laughs, a bit awkwardly, a bit abashed. Compliments are not something that Hongbin can deal with that well, so hearing them come from Hakyeon comes off as a total surprise--and it’s surreal in some way. It makes him rub a hand behind his neck while his gaze makes contact with Hakyeon’s before Hongbin just finds himself immobile, holding tight to the ball as if it was an anchor and he just lets outs a small ‘Thank you’ that he hopes suffices to cover his increasing awkwardness. An attempt at keeping the conversation casual is what follows, so Hongbin asks, “Have you been shown around the campus?”

He sees Hakyeon shaking his head no, arms crossing in front of his chest as if to highlight the fact that he indeed doesn’t know the totality of this campus, “Not fully,” he says, a quick scan at the whole coliseum, now far more calmer since the majority of people have already abandoned the place, “I was just drawn because of all this activity” 

Hongbin bites down on his bottom lip and kind of grimaces when hearing it, “Sorry if it wasn’t what you were expecting”

“A known face? Better than anything that I was expecting” and there is something that makes Hongbin’s mind swear that Hakyeon may be probably, _ possibly _flirting with him by now, yet he tries to not let it get to his head that fast. Because, what’s special about a guy that has just finished a basketball match and looks out of breath in his team’s electric blue uniform? Hongbin doesn’t consider himself that great a sight to be object of Hakyeon’s interest, and Hakyeon doesn’t seem the type to be into sporty stuff. That until he takes him by surprise when he asks Hongbin something that he really isn’t expecting, “Teach me one day?”

And Hongbin is mystified to the point he finds himself asking '_What?_', simple inquiry that shows his state of confusion because he can’t believe what Hakyeon is asking of him. Hakyeon chuckles and stares into Hongbin’s eyes, giving him an explanation that Hongbin can’t fully bring himself to believe, “You were extremely good in high school”

It makes his heart skip a beat, because he thought that there is no way that Hakyeon would remember how he used to play during that time. He tries to push the compliment aside even if he is grateful for it, but it’s more so being abashed what doesn’t allow him to accept it, “Was average…” 

“Lies,” Hakyeon states, with a pout in his face to show his disagreement, “I always observed you and trust me when I say that you were insanely good” and _ oh _\--Hongbin now can’t really help the way his heart wants to begin drumming against his chest. Hongbin bites on the inside of his cheek, taken a bit aback by the sudden wave of praises, “You were and are extremely good, Hongbin-ssi”

Hongbin smiles to himself and nods in acceptance, he feels that if he keeps this up then Hakyeon won’t stop--and he would really rather avoid that because he doesn’t know if his heart will manage. It makes him be in the need to change the subject, so he casually asks, “And you?”

“I’m good at my thing,” and Hongbin can’t really discern if that smile he is given is a sly one, but when Hakyeon comes close to him to whisper at his ear because of the sudden loud chattering from people leaving the installation, Hongbin thinks his heart is going entirely out of control, a shiver running down his spine at the small puffs of air that fan against his skin, “Would you like me to show you in exchange of you showing me around?”

It doesn’t take Hongbin that long to consider the answer he is about to give Hakyeon, because he really thinks he would be crazy if he were to let this opportunity pass. After all, who wouldn’t have wanted to be this close to everyone’s crush at school--to _ his _crush at school? This may be his game over, but Hongbin could care less.

**Author's Note:**

> If you read until here then I want to say thank you!
> 
> People that know me are aware that this is something that happens with me, but I really ended up wanting to expand this work. So hopefully one day I can get to (to talk about their meeting, Hongbin's crush, and what happens after this) but for now this is the version that I have done ^^ I hope you liked! 
> 
> ~/Find me on:  
[//❥❥twitter//](https://twitter.com/hyacinth_lea) [//❥❥CuriousCat//](https://curiouscat.me/hyacinth_lea)[//❥❥Tumblr//](https://hyacinthlea.tumblr.com/)


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